SINGAPORE: Singapore is giving its fight against scams and cybercrime a major upgrade, with the Singapore Police Force (SPF) launching a new Cyber Command in July, bringing together its scam-fighting, cybercrime, and intelligence units under one roof as online threats become more organised and harder to track.
The announcement came during an anti-scam conference on May 11, where Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming said the new frontline command will begin with about 200 officers before eventually expanding to more than 400.
The Cyber Command will absorb existing scam and cybercrime teams already operating within SPF, including the Anti-Scam Command and the cybercrime unit under the Criminal Investigation Department. Instead of several units working in parallel, Singapore now wants one central force focused on digital threats.
Scam syndicates today move fast, cross borders easily, and increasingly use artificial intelligence (AI), fake websites, and cryptocurrency to cover their tracks. Authorities are no longer dealing with isolated fraudsters sending random messages. Many cases now involve organised networks running operations like businesses.
According to a Channel NewsAsia (CNA) report, Mr Goh described the Cyber Command as the “tip of the spear” against cyber threats, but beyond the strong language, the bigger point is that Singapore is trying to shorten the time between detecting a scam and shutting it down.
Real-time action instead of just cleanup work
One major feature of the new command will be a cyber operations centre designed to detect suspicious activity in real time. The centre will monitor phishing campaigns, trace scam infrastructure and identify tools used by syndicates, including fake websites and malicious phone numbers. SPF said officers will work to dismantle these operations before more victims lose money.
The police are also expanding cryptocurrency tracing capabilities, with officers from the anti-scam centre using blockchain intelligence tools to follow digital money trails and working with banks and financial institutions to recover stolen funds where possible.
